Roof or floor support



Aug. 14, 1962 c. w. ATTWOOD 3,049,196

ROOF OR FLOOR SUPPORT Filed Dec. 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

CHARLES W. ATTWOOD ATTORNEYS 1962 c. w. ATTWOOD 3,049,196

ROOF OR FLOOR SUPPORT Filed Dec. 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E IO G C E5-4'0 dr' l2 E) 1 u I 1/ [Q g; u c INVENTOR.

CHARLES W.ATTWO0D iZ /rfl/baz ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,049,196ROOF 0R FLOOR SUPPORT Charles W. Attwood, 4118 S. Wayne Road, Wayne,Mich. Filed Dec. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 75,076 7 Claims. (Cl. 189-34) Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of my abandoned parent applicationSerial No. 517,247, filed June 22, 1955.

The present invention relates to metallic building structures and theprovision in such structures of conduits utilizable for ventilation,heating, diffused illumination, concealment of pipes or other possibleuses.

In my application Serial No. 58,874, filed Sept. 20, 1960, which is acontinuation-in-part of now abandoned application Serial No. 481,748filed Jan. 14, 1955, I have described and claimed a system of buildingconstruction in which the roof and/or floor supporting structureconsists of a plurality of relatively short strut members fixed tojunction plates in such fashion as to form a series of four sidedpyramids having their apices connected together by other similarmetallic channel members and junction plates providing another series ofpyramids but inverted. Each of the thus formed pyramids has its slantingedge in common with the adjacent pyramids. The bases of the erectpyramids will be all in one plane forming an upper chord structure andthose of the inverted pyramids will be all in another parallel planeforming a lower chord structure, the intervening web structure being thediagonal strut members forming the edges of the several pyramids.

In the aforesaid copending patent application, Ser. No. 8,874, it ispointed out that my approach to this construction system puts emphasison higher standards of building design and performance, providing morequality at less cost by developing standardization to a high degree. Thespace frame here involves the use of lightweight, interchangeable partswhich may be assembled at low cost by relatively inexperienced workmento form structures varying greatly in design and capable of beingreadily disassembled, altered or expanded to meet changing needs.Structures so assembled are completely salvageable.

The roof and floor assemblies naturally have open spaces, which areideal for carrying the pipes, wires, ducts and equipment needed inbuildings. However, to stay within the concept I have developed,simplicity of assembly, low cost, and salvageability must be present.

Another factor that must be considered is that these space frames areenabled to withstand large loads, wind pressure, shocks, vibrations andother stresses encountered, not by being so rigid that stresses areineffective, but by being relatively flexible and resilient, so thatliteral temporary bending of the structure as a whole will occur attimes. The structure is of course engineered so that it resumes itsoriginal form as soon as stresses are relieved. However, it can be seenthat other components of the building cannot be rigidly mounted, butmust be free to slip slightly, and this poses problems of installingductwork which the present invention overcomes.

One object of the invention is to achieve the standards of simplifiedassembly, low cost and salvageability in building structures byproviding a space-frame structure capable of containing simplifiedduct-work.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the installation andmodification of duct assemblies in the present space frame by utilizingtriangular tunnels which extend in two directions.

A further object of the invention is to simplify ducting in the presentspace frame by lining the sides of triangular spaces with substantiallyself-supporting panels.

Yet another object of the invention is to improve 3,049,196 PatentedAug. 14, 1962 ice building construction by providing a flexible spaceframe assembly with panels such as will form intersecting duct workflexibly carried by the space frame.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tolike parts throughout the several views and in which FIG. 1 is a View inside elevation with parts in section of a metallic building structureadaptable to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of the present invention asseen substantially from line 22 of FIG. 1 with portions omitted forclarity.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view with some upwardly extending strut membersremoved for purposes of clarity and showing one possible arrangement ofthe conduits.

FIG. 4 is another diagrammatic view with some upwardly extending strutmembers removed for purposes of clarity and showing another possibleconduit arrangement.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows in elevation a portion of the metallicstructure from one side forming a roof at the top and a floor at thebottom separated and indicates possible locations of conduits extendingthrough the roof and floor structures.

As disclosed in said application Serial No. 58,874, in producing thefloor or the roof structure, the struts 10, which are all ofapproximately the same length, are fixed to junction plates 11, each ofthe plates 11 having eight of the elements 10 fixed by any means such assuitable bolts. Four of the elements 10 will extend upward (or downward)at an angle and the other four extend radially in the same plane from acommon center, connecting to other plates 11. The angnilarly arrangedelements will be fixed at their other ends to other plates 11 disposedin an inverted position relative to the first ones. Repetition of thisarrangement results in a structure composed of a series of four sidedpyramids, both erect and inverted, with each element 10 forming an edgeof two adjacent pyramids, one erect and one inverted. The horizontalstruts 10 form upper and lower chord planes and the inclined struts forma spacing web structure.

In the structure so produced, through each row of erect pyramids andthrough each row of inverted pyramids, there may be seen a triangularspace or channel free from any obstructions, which spaces or channelsextend both length wise and crosswise of the structure. Looking at FIG.1, the letters C indicate the channels or spaces extending in onedirection. The other channels will extend in a direction at right anglesto these as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

These channels may be lined with sheets, strips or panels of a suitablematerial such as asbestos board, plywood, plaster-board, felted materialor other sheet material depending somewhat on the subsequent use of theconduit. For steam pipes or for conducting heated air, a heat insulatingmaterial is of course, desirable. For sound deadening, a sound absorbingor non-sound reflecting material may be used.

The lining material is indicated at 15 in FIGS. 1 and 2, and in theupper portion of FIG. 1 the three lining members are shown as within themetal space. In the lower portion of the figure, the flooring 16 isindicated as being a possible closure for the conduit. In -FIG. 2, thisflooring is omitted to show the two panels 15 forming a V- shapedtrough.

It will be apparent that when these panels '15 are inserted, they areself-supporting, the panels being prevented from falling inwardly by thepresence of the adjacent panels and the framework, due to the triangularrelationship of the struts 10. Yet, as the structure flexes, the ductwork will slip relative to the struts. If desired,

the panels may be held in place against excessive longitudinal slippageby any means such as by wiring 18 as shown in *FIG. 2.

In the ceiling or roof structure, if the lighting means, shownconventionally'at 17, is mounted above the ceiling plane, a suitablelight transmitting and, preferably, dilfusing panel may be used as thebottom of the conduit in the ceilingplane.

' In FIGS. 3 and 4 there are shown diagrammatically two of the manypossible arrangements of the conduits.

In FIG, 3 two parallel channels or conduits C are shown with one of themprovided with a branch conduit C at right angles.

In FIG. 4 two intersecting channels C are indicated. Although I havedescribed only a few embodiments of my invention, it will be apparenttoone skilled in the art towhich the invention pertains that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

* Iclaim:

1. In abuilding structure a portion consisting of rectangular pyramidforms, erect and inverted, produced by fixing identical metallic strutmembers to junction plates located at the apices of the pyramid forms,said erect pyramid forms each having slanting edges in common with thefour adjacent inverted forms, each of said metallic strut membersforming an edge of two adjacent pyramid forms, said pyramid forms havingtheir rectangular bases in two parallel planes, panels of sheet materialsecured to the inner sides of said strut members within a row of saidpyramid forms and extending through a plurality thereof whereby to forma conduit, the planes of the panels forming said conduit intersecting atacute dihedral angles whereby said panels coact to restrain each otherfrom being displaced inwardly with respect to the conduit through saidbuilding structure portion.

2. In a building structure a roof support portion consisting ofrectangular pyramid forms, erect and inverted, produced by fixingidentical metallic strut members to junction plates located at theapices of the pyramid forms, said erect pyramid forms having slantingedges in common with the four adjacent inverted forms, each of saidmetallic strut members forming an edge of two adjacent pyramid forms,said pyramid forms having their rectangular bases in two parallelplanes, panels of sheet material secured to the inner sides of saidstrut members within a row of said pyramid forms and extending through aplurali ty thereof whereby to form a conduit, the planes of the panelsforming said conduit intersecting at acute dihedral angles whereby saidpanels coact to restrain each other from being displaced inwardly withrespect to the conduit through said building structure portion.

3. In a building structure a roof support portion consisting ofrectangular pyramid forms, erect and inverted, produced by fixingidentical metallic strut members to junction plates located at theapices of the pyramid forms, said erect pyramid forms having slantingedges in common with the four adjacent inverted forms, each of saidmetallic strut members forming an edge for two adjacent pyramid forms,said pyramid forms having their rectangular bases in two parallelplanes, panels of sheet material secured to the innersides of theangularly arranged members within a row of said pyramid forms to form atrough, and ceiling panels closing'the thus formed trough to provide aconduit, the planes of the panels forming said conduit intersecting atacute dihedral angles whereby said panels coact to restrain each otherfrom being displaced inwardly with respect to the conduit.

4. In a space frame structure comprising a lower chord frame, an upperchord frame spaced from and parallel therewith, and a web structurespacing and connectingsaid frames, each frame comprising a plurality oflateral and longitudinal rows of struts connected to form asubstantially rectangular open-work grid structure, the intersec tionsin one frame being laterally and longitudinally offset from theintersections in the other frame, said web structure comprising strutsconnecting only the intersections in one frame with the intersections ofthe rows in the other frame to provide unobstructed triangular tunnelsin said space frame structure in two directions intermediate andparallel to said frames, and panels lining the inside of at least one ofsaid tunnels to form an enclosed triangular conduit, the planes of thepanels forming said conduit intersecting atacute dihedral angles wherebysaid panels coact to restrain each other from being displaced inwardlywith respect to the conduit.

- 5. The space frame structure as defined in claim 4 and in which saidweb struts are of substantially equal length and substantially equal inlength to the distance between adjacent intersections of a frame.

6. The space frame structure as defined in claim 4 and in which adjacenttriangular tunnels are parallel and inverted with respect to each other.

7. The space frame structure as defined in claim 4 and in which saidpanels are separable and removable from said tunnel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

